The latest Geostationary Operational Environmental
Satellite, GOES-O, soared into space Saturday, June 27, after a successful launch
from Space Launch Complex 37 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
in Florida.
The GOES-O spacecraft lifted off at 6:51 p.m. EDT on a Delta IV
rocket. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s GOES-O
satellite will improve weather forecasting and monitor environmental
events around the world. The satellite is the second to be launched
in the GOES N series of geostationary environmental weather
satellites.
Approximately 4 hours and 21 minutes after launch, the spacecraft
separated from the launch vehicle. The Universal Space Network
Western Australia tracking site in Dongara monitored the spacecraft
separation.
Ground Controllers from Boeing, NASA, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) confirmed initial contact with the spacecraft on Sunday, June 28 at 12:25 am Eastern time at a ground station on the Diego Garcia atoll in the Indian Ocean. The first on-orbit signals from GOES-O indicated the Earth-observation satellite is healthy and operating normally.
“We are very pleased to report that GOES-O is performing as planned, and we will continue to support this satellite through handover to NOAA so that it can fulfill its mission of providing critical, life-saving weather information,” said Craig Cooning, vice president and general manager of Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems. “The launch of GOES-O is a testament to the collaborative teaming and commitment of our employees to provide best-of-industry, next-generation environmental systems to NASA and NOAA.”
Sunday’s signal acquisition marks the second successful launch in the
GOES N-P series and the latest step in enhancing NOAA’s
Earth-observation and weather-monitoring capabilities. GOES-O, which is
designed for a minimum orbit life of 10 years, will be placed in
on-orbit storage and may replace an older GOES satellite in 2010.
Together with GOES-13 (formerly GOES N), which launched on May 24, 2006,
GOES-O will provide complete coverage of the Western Hemisphere.
The three-axis Boeing 601 spacecraft includes an imager that produces
visible and infrared images of the Earth’s surface, oceans, cloud cover
and storm developments; a multispectral sounder that provides vertical
temperature and moisture profiles of the atmosphere; and a solar X-ray
imager that monitors the sun’s X-rays for early detection of solar
flares. GOES-O also carries space environment monitoring instruments
that will measure X-rays and extreme ultraviolet and particle emissions,
including solar protons, alpha particles and electrons. The GOES-O
communications subsystem also includes a search-and-rescue capability to
detect distress signals from ships and airplanes.
Boeing built GOES-O for NASA and NOAA at the company’s satellite
manufacturing facility in El Segundo, which encompasses 1 million square
feet of assembly, integration and testing facilities.
On July 7, GOES-O will be placed in its final orbit and renamed
GOES-14. Approximately 24 days after launch, Boeing Space and
Intelligence Systems will turn engineering control over to NASA.
About five months later, NASA will transfer operational control of
GOES-14 to NOAA. The satellite will be checked out, stored in orbit
and available for activation should one of the operational GOES
satellites degrade or exhaust its fuel.
Kenneth A. Heinly, Director, Launch Products and Services, Boeing Launch Services, Huntington Beach, Calif was the Boeing executive responsible for getting the spacecraft into orbit and Charlie Maloney is the GOES-O Program Manager for Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems, Seal Beach, Calif.
Heinly is responsible for two Boeing subsidiaries: Boeing Launch Services and Boeing Commercial Space Company. Boeing Launch Services (BLS) markets and provides Delta Launch Services to the commercial community. BLS procures these services from Boeing’s United Launch Alliance (ULA) Joint Venture. Boeing Commercial Space Company (BCSC) provides the Payload Accommodations and Mission Integration Services to the Sea Launch Company, a multi-national company in which Boeing is a 40 percent owner. He is also in charge of Special Space Products programs which provide launch vehicle products and services to ULA.
Heinly received Master of Science degrees in Aerospace Engineering and Civil Engineering from the University of Southern California. He also has a Bachelor of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering from Pennsylvania State University.
Maloney is responsible for GOES-O final systems testing and launch preparations. He brings more than 26 years of satellite expertise to Boeing in engineering and management, including the development of new product designs and requirements of communications and earth observation satellites and managing a diverse workforce of engineering professionals. For the past 11 years, Maloney has been an integral member of the GOES N-P Program. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering, with an emphasis on electromechanical systems, and a Masters of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering, both from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
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About Dolores Barr, Publisher
Dolores Barr has lived in Rossmoor since 1992 and has created this site to provide local news for the people of Los Alamitos, Seal Beach, Rossmoor, Leisure World, Sunset Beach, and Surfside, California. My husband and I have had two students graduate from the Los Alamitos Unified School District and currently our Grandson, Ricky Apodaca, grade 3 at Weaver Elementary, is actively involved in youth baseball through LAYB and youth football through FNL.
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